J. F. Sanfilippo's

J. F. Sanfilippo's Restaurant Review:

Few members of Joe Sanfilippo’s extended family can pass up the allure of the restaurant business. Their quality Italian eateries dot the region. Sanfilippo hung his shingle in 1991 and still does much of the cooking; his sister Connie runs the front of the house; and their mother lends a deft hand in the kitchen with desserts, salads and most notably, breads. The best choices may be pasta and seafood, and any combination therein. We like the rigatoni Giuseppe, the owner’s namesake dish, pasta in a spicy, creamy tomato sauce spiked with vodka. Though that particular pasta has its origins in northern Italy, the family’s Sicilian heritage is evident, too. Look to the linguine con vongole with clams and garlic in white wine sauce for proof. If the seasonal dessert called inis is available, don't hesitate; this disk of ricotta-based filling with bits of fruit and chocolate chips is lightly breaded and deep-fried, a tasty item found nowhere else in town, and not, we'll bet, many other places, either. The restaurant is tucked into a Drury Inn near the Edward Jones Dome, where it does a brisk convention business; a second location is at 120 Chesterfield Valley Dr., 636-536-6833.